Francis and his predecessors: Thoughts on the post-war papacy

Pope Francis (C) welcomes Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the start of a consistory for the creation of new Cardinals on February 14, 2015 at St. Peter’s basilica in Vatican. (AFP PHOTO / OSSERVATORE ROMANO/HO – Getty Images)

I write for fellow Catholics, but also for other Christians who are often perplexed about popes and the papacy. And I write for Jews who have been both appreciative and critical. And for humanist friends who donâ€™t know what to make of the â€śmedievalâ€ť idea of the papacy.

Yet I donâ€™t write as a theologian trying to explain or expand Catholic faith. I write simply a personal appreciation for the popes Iâ€™ve known during my lifetime: from Pius XII in the 1940s to Francis.

Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli, 1939-58) had the impossible job of trying both to protect the Catholic Church and to work for peace during the horrific years of World War II. He has been severely criticized (and strongly defended) for alleged failure to act more publicly against the Holocaust. He was the severe yet sacrosanct figure who presided over the remarkable growth, vigorous fidelity and staunch anti-Communism of U.S. Catholicism during the 1950s.

Then John XXIII (Giuseppi Roncalli, 1958-63), the pope who surprised Catholicism and the world with his genial personality and by convoking Vatican II (1962-65). The council changed the face of Catholicism, opened relations with other Christians, with Jews, and more generally with the modern world.

John penned his great â€śencyclical letterâ€ť Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) at the height of the Cold War. We now also know that he served as mediator between Kennedy and Khrushchev during the Cuban missle crisis. He was recently canonized by Pope Francis.

Paul VI (Giovanni Montini, 1963-78) presided over Vatican II after Johnâ€™s death and then over the Catholic world during the tumultuous years after the council. He is admired by some for mediating between extreme reactions to Vatican II. He is remembered less kindly by others for failing to change Catholic teaching about artificial birth control. He began the modern tradition of papal travels; was the first pope to visit the U.S. (1965). I remember especially his televised speech to the United Nations with its dramatic plea for peace: â€śNo more war; war no more!â€ť â€“ just as President Lyndon Johnson was ratcheting up the American war in Viet Nam.

John Paul I (Albino Luciani, 1978) served for only 33 days before dying suddenly in his sleep (and raising conspiracy suspicions). He seems to have had a personality and views that reminded many of John XXIII. Weâ€™ll never know because his successor took a different tack.

John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla, 1978-2005), recently also canonized, was the longest â€śreigningâ€ť of the modern popes and in some ways the most influential. The first non-Italian pope in centuries, his forceful personality quickly impressed itself on the Catholic world by his large-scale appointment of reputedly â€śconservativeâ€ť bishops. He also stood out for the world at large by his continual travels, especially by early trips to his native Poland which contributed to the eventual breakup of the Soviet empire. Many so-called â€śliberalsâ€ť disagreed with much of his papacy. Yet he was admired throughout the world for courageous leadership. The secular media paid him great respect, while disagreeing with most of his teaching, not so much for sanctity but for embodying their ideal of a strong-willed leader.

Benedict XVI (Josef Ratzinger, 2005-2013) became pope after long years as John Paul IIâ€™s â€śnumber one.â€ť Some referred to him as â€śJohn Paulâ€™s Rottweilerâ€ť because of his German nationality and fierce guardianship of Catholic orthodoxy. As an aging pontiff, however, Benedict showed both church and world a more scholarly side, and eventually surprised all by resigning his office. That resignation may prove his most enduring achievement since it changed the image of the papacy from absolute, lifelong monarch to that of pastor and bishop. It also opened the way for the election of Pope Francis.

About Francis (Jorge Bergoglio, S.J., 2013-present) I need not say much since so much has been said elsewhere. His simultaneous canonization of both John Paul II and John XXIII clearly urged an end to Catholic culture wars. Indeed his great writing, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), still resonates with its call for Christians to move away from internal divisions and towards the needs of our world, especially of the poor. The message resonates because he lives it, even as he is also providing astute leadership in efforts to reform Catholic structures.

What might we make of this line of strong personalities and critical decision-making?

Enemies of Catholicism will see it as a kind of roguesâ€™ gallery. Many others, while admiring this or criticizing that, will see the modern papacy as an anachronism, aristocratic and patriarchal. Even many admirers will nonetheless object to the papacyâ€™s undemocratic character, its failure to nurture the freedom of the children of God.

I find myself largely admiring these men. Yes, I know the criticisms and agree with many of them â€“ especially those about patriarchy and clericalism, about stacking the ranks of bishops with like-minded â€śyes menâ€ť and discouraging critical thought.

Iâ€™m not sure what to make of Pius XIIâ€™s behavior during World War II. I would not have known what to do in the fog of that terrible war, and Iâ€™m dismayed by the pompous certainty of arm-chair historians (most with axes to grind).

Many criticisms of the modern papacy focus less the Pope than on Catholic sexual ethics and wider issues of gender. Here too, I find myself divided. Much Catholic teaching about sexuality seems little more than fundamental sanity, while some of it is clearly sexist and rigid.

Overall, I am grateful for such leadership during tumultuous times. Even when there have been mistakes, perhaps grave ones, and blinders and occasional folly, I find myself remembering the wonderful Jewish thought that â€śGod writes straight with crooked lines.â€ť

The continual plea of these popes has been for peace and for justice â€“ as Francis constantly reminds us.

Indeed their collective writings on topics of peace, justice, poverty and human development provide a light and a sanity that cannot be found in any other contemporary tradition of social thought.

Perhaps I express appreciation for the popes of my lifetime because I now remember them within Francisâ€™ joyful radiance. And thatâ€™s just fine.

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